Case Study: New Platform Satisfies Krave Jerky's E-Commerce Needs

PROBLEM: Krave Jerky, a seller of gourmet, healthy beef, pork and turkey jerky, wanted to improve its customers’ experiences on its website and, in turn, increase its online revenues.

SOLUTION: Relaunched its website on a new e-commerce platform.

RESULTS: In last year's fourth quarter, Krave's average order value grew 15 percent year-over-year; Cyber Monday gross merchandise value increased 39 percent year-over-year; site visits in October and November were up 48.8 percent year-over-year; and the site's conversion rate has "increased fairly substantially."

For Krave Jerky, e-commerce represents a growth opportunity. While the company's primary business is in wholesale agreements with retail partners — e.g., Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon.com, Vitamin Shoppe — selling its gourmet jerky flavors online has become a key initiative.

For that to happen, however, Krave needed to upgrade from its "archaic" website — both in look and functionality — to a sleeker, easier-to-use platform. It needed a site that could match the coolness of the brand, which was growing at a meteoric rate. It turned for help to Symphony Commerce, a commerce-as-a-service platform. In three months development time, Krave went live on Symphony Commerce's platform in November 2013.

"We were growing so quickly, we needed a partner who had the ability to scale with us," recalls Chelsea Bialla, Krave's director of marketing. "Also, our product was becoming cooler and cooler, and we wanted a beautiful website that was aligned with what we were putting out in 
the marketplace."

Sexiness ... With Needed Functionality
In addition to providing the "sexiness" that Krave was looking for, Symphony Commerce's platform offered the functionality that the retailer sought.

Krave was inhibited by the lack of customization that was possible on its previous platform. For example, it wasn't able to quickly make changes to the site such as adding new products, changing pricing, swapping out product images or updating content. That's all changed now that Krave is using Symphony Commerce's platform.

Symphony Commerce's platform has helped Krave's back-end operations as well. For example, the retailer now has access to deeper site analytics, is able to better control inventory across channels, and can monitor site performance in real time.

The end result is that Krave is succeeding in its efforts to provide visitors the best — and easiest — shopping experience possible. "Our goal is the less clicks to check out the better," Bialla says.